05 June 2014

Unfortiunately this does not come as a surprise. Utah will appeal the federal court ruling that would require it to recognize the 1,000+ marriages performed after a judge invalidated the state's ban on marriage equality, reports the Salt Lake Tribune.

[Republican] Gov. Gary Herbert and state Attorney General Sean Reyes on Wednesday filed a notice in federal court that it would appeal U.S. District Judge Dale A. Kimball’s May order that the state must treat the same-sex marriages performed in December and January the same way it treats all opposite-sex marriages.

About 1,300 same-sex couples received marriage licenses during a 17-day window that opened Dec. 20, when U.S. District Judge Robert J. Shelby ruled the voter-approved ban on gay marriage to be unconstitutional, and closed when the state won a stay while appealing that ruling. A ruling on the ban itself is expected any day from the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver, where judges heard arguments in April on its constitutionality.

Before the U.S. Supreme Court granted a stay on the weddings Jan. 6, more than 1,000 same-sex couples had solemnized their marriages in formal ceremonies. State officials later said they would not acknowledge those marriages while its appeal on Shelby’s ruling was pending. But Kimball on May 19 ruled those marriages are binding, entitling those couples to the rights of marriage, such as inheritance, legal protection and child custody — even if the ban ultimately is found to be constitutional, Kimball ruled.

Attorney General Eric Holder announced on January 10 that the Obama Administration would recognize the same-sex marriages that were performed in Utah ... despite that state's decision not to do so.

The federal government has recognized same-sex marriages since the landmark Windsor case of June 2013 that struck down Section Three of the Defense of Marriage Act—which prohibited federal recognition of legally married same-sex couples and denied more than 1,000 benefits, such as Social Security, pension benefits and preferential tax treatment.

10 January 2014

Excellent. Attorney General Eric Holder announced today that the Obama Administration will recognize the 1300 plus same-sex marriages that were performed in Utah ... despite that state's decision not to recognize those marriages pending a decision in the federal court system.

08 January 2014

Utah Republican Gov. Gary Herbert announced today that the state will not recognize the 1,000+ same-sex marriages performed in the state before the United States Supreme Court stayed a federal court judge’s decision overturning a ban on same-sex marriages, reports the Salt Lake Tribune.

The Supreme Court granted the stay on January 6 to halt marriage equality in Utah. In a letter to state agencies, Derek Miller, chief of staff to Gov. Gary Herbert, said those marriages will be "on hold" while it appeals the December 20 ruling by U.S. District Judge Robert Shelby that had legalized the unions.

With a stay in place, the original laws governing marriage in Utah are again in effect. In his letter, Miller told state agency directors that the state’s existing law prohibits not only performing same-sex marriages, but recognizing them. "Please understand this position is not intended to comment on the legal status of those same-sex marriages," the letter said. "That is for the courts to decide."

"Wherever individuals are in the process of availing themselves of state services related to same-sex marital status, that process is on hold and will stay exactly in that position until a final court decision is issued," the letter said.

However, if couples had already received, for example, new driver licenses reflecting new names, those licenses will not be revoked, the letter said. But couples may not now seek new licenses. ... Likewise, if someone had completed a process — whether that was filing for health insurance coverage or preparing joint taxes — they are now frozen at that point, he said.

Last week, the Utah Attorney General filed a request with U.S. Supreme Court Justice Justice Sonia Sotomayor for a stay pending the appeal of Shelby's decision. This after the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals' refused to stay Shelby's decision ... and implied that the state would likely lose its appeal.

Utah was the 18th state to mandate equal marriage during a brief two week window. Seventeen states—California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington—and the District of Columbia now allow same-sex marriage. Six Native American tribal jurisdictions also allow same-sex marriage.

The federal government has recognized same-sex marriages since the landmark Windsor case that struck down Section Three of the Defense of Marriage Act—which prohibited federal recognition of legally married same-sex couples and denied more than 1,000 benefits, such as Social Security, pension benefits and preferential tax treatment.

20 November 2011

GOP presidential candidate and former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman appeared on NBC's Saturday Night Live. The candidate traded in some self-deprecating humor about his poll numbers on "Weekend Update." "Just a few months ago, we were polling at the margin error, so to have any digit at all is a pretty big deal," Huntsman said.

Huntsman is skipping the social conservatives-dominated Iowa Republican caucus. The candidate has "pinned virtually his entire campaign on winning the first-in-the-nation primary in New Hampshire" and joked about his Granite State "obsession."

FWIW: Huntsman comes across as the most reasonable GOP presidential candidate—which means he probably won't be nominated. Watch it AFTER THE JUMP ...

25 August 2011

An interesting piece of news coming from Utah. The Salt Lake City Police Department has reopened the 1978 murder investigation a young, Black, gay political activist, reports QSaltLake.

Twenty-five-year-old Anthony Adams was the campaign manager for the Socialist Party in Utah and a gay-rights activist. Adams was found brutally stabbed to death in November 1978. Adams was one of four violent murders of closeted and prominent gay men in Salt Lake City during November and December 1978.

The Salt Lake Police Dept. described Adams as "a member of a local radical element." The murders contributed to the climate of paranoia around progressive activists in ultra-conservative Utah in the 1970s. Also: The murders of gay men in Utah happened around the same time as the assassination of Harvey Milk.

On Nov. 6, 1978, Bill Woodbury, Adams’ boyfriend, Rev. Bob Waldrop, and another friend went to Adams’ apartment. They were concerned because no one had seen or heard from him for several days. After climbing in through a window, Woodbury found his boyfriend in the bedroom, naked and covered with blood. Adams had been stabbed repeatedly with a butcher knife and his throat slit. An autopsy showed that he had been dead for several days and murdered on Nov. 3.

Coincidentally, police detectives were still investigating the death of 16-year-old Sharon Schollmeyer who was found strangled to death in the same apartment building in December 1977.

[Activists] accused the police of dragging their feet investigating the recent murders of homosexuals . [Police] denied the charges, claiming that murders were being “rigorously” investigated and that a suspect in the murder of Doug Coleman, another gay man, was in the state mental hospital for observation.

Community leaders were not satisfied with the officials’ responses and claimed that they had inside knowledge from a “closeted police officer” that some officers in the police department joked about Adams’ death, saying, "Nigger, Queer, Communist — Three Strikes You’re Out."

Shortly before his murder, the city vice squad had arrested Adams for soliciting sex acts for hire. The police claimed that Adam’s phone number had been scrawled in a telephone booth and in restrooms throughout the Salt Lake area. The vice squad officers then called the number and arranged to meet him for a “sex act.” Upon meeting with Adams they arrested him. Shirley Pedler, director of the Utah ACLU, upon learning about this situation questioned Chief Willoughby about this method of locating "sex offenders."

Adams and the city's emerging gay community had a number of successful accomplishments in 1977: "Activists protested Anita Bryant’s appearance at the Utah State Fair, forced the state not to hold church sponsored dances in the capitol’s rotunda, forced the Hotel Utah to pay a settlement for breaking a contract, and helped more and more people to come out of the closet."

Many activists in Salt Lake City believed that the police were "covering up the murders" or that "someone in the department was the killer." The loss of Anthony Adams and the fear around the murders caused a halt to SLC's gay activism for the next four or five years.

21 June 2011

Former Utah governor and US ambassador to China Jon Huntsman announced his bid for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination and intention to take on former boss Barack Obama. In a speech with the Statue of Liberty as a backdrop, Hunstman promised voters a civil campaign that will be focused on "who will be the better President, not who’s the better American."

Hunstman is positioning himself as an "unconventional" moderate in an already crowded Republican field, notes BusinessWeek. The former Republican governor is also "seeking support from LGBT Republicans" and hoping to attract independents by his record on LGBT issues in Utah, reports Gay Politics.

"On the domestic front, and as it specifically pertains to our greater LGBT community, Governor and Mrs. Huntsman are particularly supportive of our issues," wrote Charles T. Moran, an openly gay Republican political consultant, in a letter to potential LGBT donors.

Moran was likely referring to a 2009 announcement by the then-governor’s staff that he endorsed a bill that would have provided civil unions for same-sex couples in Utah, a move that shocked the political establishment at the time. He also supported laws banning employment and housing discrimination against LGBT Utahns, according to the Atlantic’s Marc Ambinder.

While Hunstman has been steadfast in his opposition to marriage equality and abortion rights, he’s refused to back off these more moderate stances on LGBT issues as he gears up for a presidential run. In efforts to talk about his support for civil unions with socially conservative groups, Huntsman’s operatives say his views allign with those of former President George W. Bush. The campaign has not addressed whether that includes amending the U.S. Constitution to outlaw marriage for same-sex couples, an effort Bush supported.

Huntsman is skipping the social conservatives-dominated Iowa Republican caucus. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee won that contest in 2008

And in what could possibly be interpreted as a reflection of Huntsman's perceived viability, his official announcement today "drew the first direct response from the Obama campaign to any new GOP presidential contender," reports ABC News.

07 March 2011

Brigham Young University has suspended one of its star basketball players for violating the school's honor code. Six-foot-9 forward Brandon Davies' transgression: Having sex with his girlfriend.

The honor code at the Mormon-affiliated university requires students to "live a chaste and virtuous life." In addition to premarital sex, students are also required to attend church regularly and abstain from alcoholic beverages, tobacco, tea, coffee and substance abuse. "Davies will be suspended from the team for the rest of the season and, according to [a] spokeswoman, his future at the school has yet to be determined," reports the Washington Post.

Davies' suspension was announced Wednesday before the team faced off against New Mexico. BYU was upset 82-64. On Saturday, the team clinched a 102-79 victory over Wyoming. Davies was "allowed to help the team cut down the net after they clinched a share of the conference regular season title," reports the New York Daily News.

"If the school was willing to suspend its top-ranked basketball team’s leading rebounder and No. 3 scorer for having sex with his girlfriend," asks Outsports. "What would they do to a gay student? The students would be lucky if they were only kicked out."

NBA All Star Weekend begins and Blake Griffin loses a friend to cancer. "When reporters entered the locker room after the [Timberwolves] game, Griffin's [head] was in his hands after receiving a phone call and he was sobbing. Griffin, who is scheduled to compete in the dunk contest on Saturday, did not speak to reporters."

Edmonton: Soldier sentenced to 12 months for punching gay man and bragging about it on Facebook.

Marsha Ambrosius discusses her new album and the fantastic new video for "Far Away". "For two openly gay males—black males at that—to be shown in [that] light was a very surreal moment for many. A point in making the video was to [show] they were happy and in love and open to loving one another in front of whomever, and to establish their relationship outside of what the world thought; they thought the world of each other."

Jamaica: Student "forced to flee dorm" after students share his videotaped same-sex fantasies . "The tape, which made its rounds on the campus in late November into early December, was about 30 minutes long and involved the student sharing deep secrets and fantasies with the boy he thought was his new-found friend." [The student shared] the names of those he found attractive. [He] revealed that he had a crush on his roommate, but admitted that he could not make a move as his roommate 'is not into those type of things.'"

After sadistic gay-bashing gang initiation, Bronx residents discuss tolerance. "The town hall-style meeting was held a short walk from the vacant house where several young men were viciously beaten in early October. While condemning the attacks, the Bronx Community Pride Center hopes some good can come of them; that the attacks can kick-start a borough-wide conversation and ultimately prevent future hate crimes."

Federal judge hears spousal benefits case: "[Karen] Golinski is suing the Office of Personnel Management and its openly gay director, John Berry, over its refusal to authorize the coverage. The office has argued that the federal Defense of Marriage Act bars the government from recognizing same-sex unions. Golinski works as a staff attorney for the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, and her boss, Chief Judge Alex Kozinski, has twice ordered the office to allow her to add her wife of almost two-and-half years to her employer-sponsored family health plan."